Cooperatives and Entrepreneurship in Rural Communities - Report by Jennifer Grigg

The report is a result of a Churchill Fellowship which enabled the author to study how certain rural communities are able to develop economic opportunities and prospects, the value and structure of cooperatives and the culture of entrepreneurship for sustainable development.

In 2003, Jennifer Grigg from the Sunraysia Institute of TAFE - Mallee Campus won a Churchill Fellowship to study how it is that certain rural communities are able to successfully develop economic opportunities through the utilisation of cooperatives and a culture of nurturing entrepreneurs. 

 In order to come to some understanding as to how rural communities achieve such sustainability, she travelled to the USA, Canada and Ireland, meeing with a vast array of organisations, examining their structure, ideas, achievements, experiences, programs, goals and networks.

Jennifer also identified how the lessons learned could fit the Australian context of creating sustainable rural communities.

Jennifer's Report contains valuable conclusions and key learnings for the Australian context.

She says: "It seems desirable for the cooperative model to be more effectively applied to support sustainable rural community development in an economic and social sense and we need to be more creative in encouraging local entrepreneurship in rural Australia...There are certain inherent characteristics of rural communities that encourage the adoption of the Co-operative model for a more sustainable future".

For further information

Contact	:	Jennifer Grigg
Address	:	Sunraysia TAFE-Mallee Campus
Email	:	jgrigg@sunitafe.edu.au